“The Darkening” 12 X 12” Mixed media, Catherine Twomey
Public Service Announcement: "Mercury: Dangerously Fishy"
"The following is a personal Public Service Announcement - my first, and I hope the last:
Mercury: Dangerously Fishy by Catherine Twomey, FAMI, Emeritus
Thinking about ordering that lovely swordfish or sea bass, steaming and covered in capers? Or, how about that sushi? About to pop open a can of “sustainable, thoughtfully harvested” Albacore tuna to eat on a salad or for a delicious tuna fish sandwich? Think again; hard.
I’ve just been diagnosed with mercury toxicity. For the last two months, I’ve worked with an integrative, functional medicine doctor while she supervised and interpreted over 10 tests, ranging from blood to hair and lots in between.
What kind of harm is done by an excess of mercury? Without getting overly scientific, the overall scope is that it’s prevented my body from functioning properly for a long time. Mercury toxicity can be a root cause of a host of maladies that are otherwise attributed to things like aging or chronic disease.
I have stepped out of traditional medicine because it failed me once again. My general practitioner refused to do annual blood tests for me since 2020 - even though I asked him to repeatedly, telling me: “You’re doing just fine, you don’t need them.” Funny, he had no problem doing them for my husband. I found a traditionally trained physician whose specialty, functional integrative medicine, isn’t recognized by Medicare, yet who is one of the most intelligent, thorough and life-changing people I’ve met.
The mercury toxicity diagnosis has been pretty exhausting and frightening. Sure, I’d heard about fish and mercury - but it really can’t be that bad, otherwise I would have heard more about it, right? Wrong. I can no longer eat any fish or shellfish except a limited amount of salmon. As a small species fish with lower mercury, salmon is loaded with antioxidants; a good thing. At this point in the earth’s environmental destruction, every species of fish or shellfish has mercury in it. It’s just a question of which species does the most harm.
What’s being dumped into the oceans is much worse than it was just a couple of decades ago. I had been experiencing subtle, weird symptoms of various things and at least now have an explanation for them. My body is slowly healing and balancing, and I’m going to have what’s called chelation therapy to “liquify” what mercury is in my body with hopes of a full recovery. It’s going to take thousands of dollars and up to seven months.
Our medical system is broken; this story is just one tiny example. When I tell doctors about my mercury toxicity, their typical first response is: “that’s rare.” I suspect the opposite is true. How can you know if something is rare if it’s not even tested for routinely? Unfortunately, most physicians have had little nutritional education and we’re paying a steep price for that deficiency.
The amount of mercury and other industrial waste being freely released into the oceans has increased by about 30% just in the last 20 years - ah, those pesky environmental regulations - and is increasing exponentially. Yet there are no standard tests done to measure changing nutritional needs or toxic exposure. The tests are affordable, do-able remotely and could significantly alter the grossly mismanaged, unregulated supplement industry profoundly - and please, don’t even get me started on the pharmaceutical industry. Illnesses could be re-diagnosed, correctly; lives saved, improved and millions of dollars redirected towards better health outcomes rather than chronic diseases.
I loved to eat fish. I’d read, been told and thought I was doing the “right” thing and following a great diet full of everything you’re supposed to eat with very little of the bad stuff. Not anymore. At least for the foreseeable future, I’m all plant based. I’m actually learning to cook because at least I know what’s going into and can control each meal. I want to keep outdoor mountain painting, thinking clearly, horseback riding and being disease free as long as possible.
Lately I’ve mused on how ironic it is that, as an emeritus medical illustrator and fine art painter, I’ve focused on the complexity and beauty of nature and fragility of the earth’s environment. My brain calling out for help? Maybe. Or maybe the earth’s problems are now hitting home and I can no longer be in denial. It’s not fun being the canary in a coal mine."
“Accelerating” by Catherine Twomey; 30” X 30” acrylics, pigments
Article: "The Universe" Interview by the Center for Humans and Nature
The Center for Humans and Nature (https://humansandnature.org/) interviewed me for this feature: https://humansandnature.org/the-universe/...
I am very grateful for their work and interest.
The Universe | Center for Humans and Nature
"Center For Humans and Nature" Awarded Artworks by C. Twomey
Thank you to the Center for Humans and Nature (https://humansandnature.org/) for the unexpected award for six of my works to be published in 2023! What a terrific way to start the New Year! Citation: A version of ‘Accelerating’ first appeared in a
publication of the Center for Humans and Nature Press and is revised and
reprinted here with permission of the Center for Humans and Nature Press.
"Sea Leveling" by Catherine Twomey Through ERA Contemporary Gallery
Thank you to ERA Contemporary Gallery in Philadelphia, PA for featuring my painting: "Sea Leveling" - now on offer. Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClWfQJcMZKh/
Open Studio Tour! Oct. 8 & 9, 1 Plymouth Court, Asheville!
Hope you can come and meet me at 1 Plymouth Court, Kenilworth, Asheville this Saturday and Sunday. Starting at 10, ending at 5 - it would be such a pleasure to meet you! I’ll have originals and prints, snacks & spring water. The weather is going to be PERFECT! See you there, and thanks.
“Sequenced”, 24” X 36” pigments, iridescents, metallics on aluminum panel, framed.
"Sequenced" Original Painting by Catherine Twomey On Offer
The luminous sky and mountains at over 6,000 feet can overwhelm. Couple that with the late spring blooms of the rhododendrons, and there is a sense of floating high above the clouds as the sun descends. I'm inspired by the mountains and sky, of course - but the flow of the pigments themselves is so freeing; so abstract. It's like it helps makes sense of all of the complex layers and diffuse light spreading through the clouds. Each layer is constructed
separately using pigments, tools, an airbrush and gravity. Although the end result appears realistic, on closer inspection it's made up of pours, ridges and glowing pigment. This 24" X 36" original painting will infuse your room settings with good taste and luminescence. It is framed in a lovely copper and black floating frame.
Invitational Blowing Rock Women's Show - June 9, 2022!
“Cirrused”, 24 X 36”, pigments, metallics, iridescents on archival panel.
June 9th, 2022! Blowing Rock Women's Show at the American Legion Building in Blowing Rock! Come and meet me, Deborah Squier and Lori McNee! Blowing Rock is SPECTACULAR & so is the art; supporting the Women's Fund of the Blue Ridge. Thanks!
A Milestone Sale: "Blue Ridge Cloud Shadows" by Catherine Twomey
In so many ways, this was a breakthrough painting and has meant so much to me. But the original has found its home and I'm thrilled! In its Provenance, it was chosen by Target for their worldwide in-home collection; it will always be in my heart. "Blue Ridge Cloud Shadows"; made with love and a confidence I never knew I had. Additional prints are available on my Etsy store at CatherineTwomeyArt.
"Accelerating" Reserved, by Catherine Twomey
“Accelerating”, 30” X 30” by Catherine Twomey
Happy that it looks like this painting has found a home! As always, many thanks to the collector.
"Something's Coming" On Offer, The Village Gallery, Oriental, NC
“Something’s Coming” 30” X 30” framed, on archival artefax panel, https://www.catherinetwomey.com/available
There’s that moment when you’ve hiked to the top of a mountain and you’re finally getting that 360° view. You’re wafting above a slope of rhododendrons in bloom - blindingly pink; luscious - and there at the horizon is a rapidly moving storm (towards you, of course) and suddenly you realize it’s time to descend. Will you?
"Revolution" On Offer, The Village Gallery, Oriental, NC
“Revolution”, 30”X30” on polycotton over aluminum panel, framed. Come by The Village Gallery in Oriental or take a look here: https://www.catherinetwomey.com/available/revolution
The constantly in flux earth, shown with varied and dynamic weather patterns over the global surface. I grew up exploring real globes - the kind you can spin and touch. The earth's revolutions as well as the revolutions of storm systems all at the same moment kept me enthralled. So much of the earth being made up of that stunning teal water and how it influences our climate, all while hurdling through space - complexity beyond my ability to grasp it all.
"Mediterrania" by C. Twomey
12” X 12” on canvas, professionally framed.
I am well aware that the United States is not at the center of the universe. This is my tribute to the European, African, Middle East and so on nations; all of us, together - not one superior to another.
My understanding is that fifty years ago, when the Apollo astronauts looked back at the earth from the moon, they were profoundly struck by the beauty of the tiny, fragile, blue planet earth. And so it was.
Whenever gazing at the stars and planets, I too am awed by the enormity and depth of the sky. I've heard some people feel anxiety when looking at the night sky; I'm the opposite. It brings pe
"Sea Leveling" A Siren Call
“Sea Leveling” 24 X 36”, archival Artefex Panel and Golden Pigments
I wonder what the moon things of our earthly pursuits? It’s easy to envision the moon’s view of the earth: beautiful, other-wordly, spinning. Look closer, however, and there are changes to see: the seas rising, shorelines changing, existential threats to life on earth. This is a siren call to look far beyond the gorgeous planet, understand what’s happening and then do something.
On Offer: "Accelerating", 30X30" on Archival Panel, Framed
"Accelerating", 30 X 30" on Artefex Panel. Mixed media, archival.
THANK YOU ASHEVILLE! Successful Kenilworth Artists Asso. Show!
I've finished an accounting of what I sold at the Kenilworth Artists Association Open Studio Tour - and I am so thankful for the support and interest! 31 pieces sold, some that I've had in the studio for over a decade, but that I always liked and that now have good homes! Thank you very much and I hope to really see you next year, when COVID is hopefully just a bad memory. Alright, back to replenishing the inventory.
New Representation for Catherine Twomey, Artist
Exciting news!
Limited Edition archival giclee prints are now be available through my new gallery, The Village Gallery - Oriental, NC. I will be having a one person show in February, 2022 and hope you can be there! Check back for updates.
"Space X Launch" Original Art Sold: Catherine Twomey
Always surprised when a work I did a couple of years ago appeals to someone and sells - just never know! This was painted in honor of the Space X launch; thank you to the buyer from Atlanta GA. 12 X 12" acrylic, gold, copper and silver.
What a year! I remember talking to my sis in February; wondering if we were going to have to cancel a trip to Scotland due to some strange virus. Well, we did, like everyone else. In the meantime, however, we learned to live with it and I painted and sold more paintings than I ever have - along the way finding that I'm pretty much a contemporary Impressionist-type painter. That alone was worth it! Thanks to everyone for your support, your kindness and here's to hoping 2021 is a banner year in so many ways.
2020 Summary and Goodbye; Good Riddance!
Last Sale Day TODAY, Monday, 12/7
Please note! Today is the last day of my original art sale. Thank you SO MUCH to the collectors who've already purchased work. Here's the link, shop 'til you drop and Happy Holidays!: https://www.catherinetwomey.com/available